Wizard World Austin was an absolute blast last year, so going again was a given. Unfortunately, the timing of the convention changed a bit from last year to this and I believe this hurt them. There were a large number of guest cancellations and because of competing events in the city that weekend, the turnout was a bit lackluster as well. The convention also ran from Thursday to Saturday instead of the usual weekend schedule. The con was still very well orchestrated though, the guests that were in attendance were phenomenal and so kind, and the attendees and cosplayers were creative and fun.

It seemed like there were a lot less interesting panels than usual, and that’s one of my favorite parts of the convention experience. I suppose the smaller number was a given, since there were less guests. The panels that we did attend were a lot of fun and made up for the loss by far!

Sean Astin was so funny and sweet. He had us all take a pledge and become honorary Goonies. He was so obliging and answered questions in character as Mikey, Samwise Gamgee and Raphael. The fans were really digging him. What is better than hearing Samwise Gamgee give one of his more tearjerking speeches live on stage?

I have seen Michael Rooker Versus the Audience three times now and it never gets old. He is a master at engaging and provoking his fans and we eat it up every time. You have to give it to someone who, not only doesn’t mind when people interrupt and yell out a question, he absolutely loves it. More Rooker, always!

Bruce Campbell Versus the Audience was different than I have seen it in the past. He told everyone who lined up to ask him questions to go sit down right off the bat. Then he walked around and randomly recruited “talent” from the audience to write, direct and star in a short play that would be filmed on the spot on his iPhone and then played back for us. It was hilarious and there is nothing better than having Bruce Campbell tell someone “you’re an idiot—go sit down” and have that person absolutely love him for it and skip back to their seat. Love him!

The Costume Contest was a lot of fun. We got great seats because Teresa was competing and we wanted to get a good look at her in action. She made a Yara/Asha Greyjoy costume (Game of Thrones) and she owned the stage while she was up there! Good job, Tree! The participants were so creative and different. Just as I expected, Austin totally brought it.

Definitely hitting this convention again in the future! Hopefully the date will fall at a better time next year. Until then Wizard World Austin!

Words cannot express how excited I was to get this autograph from Sean Astin! It could not be more perfect.

Weekend Wins

Being yelled at on the street by Michael Rooker

Rolling with a fresh costume all three days (that’s how we do!)

Teresa dancing on 6th Street

Being called a Goonie by Sean Astin—life made!

Magmud at Magnolia Cafe

Finally getting both Dixon brothers in one photo

Good times with great friends

Weekend Loses

I didn’t plan well enough to get a photo op with Sean Astin—Goonie fail!

Too many guest cancelations! I couldn’t help thinking I was missing Matt Smith.

Finally got our Dixon brothers photo opp after missing out on it at every other con.

Last Spring we went on a family trip to New Mexico that included a self-guided Breaking Bad Tour of Albuquerque. “Put on your headphones baby, Mommy and Daddy need to look at few places fictional drugs were dealt.”

It’s pretty easy to find the addresses for these locations on-line and in most cases you can walk right up, snap a few candid shots and imagine yourself hanging out with Walt and Jesse.

Crossroads Motel

1001 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106

The first spot we came across was the Crossroads Motel, where Wendy took care of business and Jesse laid low. It is right off the freeway and it’s crazy how much smaller the place looks in person. The perspective and how they shot the scenes at Crossroads made me picture the area totally different. Management has a sign up that requests you pay to take photos at their business. Don’t be a jerk—pay the people!

See you at the Crossroads...

The Grove

600 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87102

Right on the other side of the highway is The Grove, where Spledna is plentiful, but you might not want to use any of it! Be sure to check their hours if you plan to go inside. We attempted to eat here twice before we were successful. That’s our own fault though for not researching properly, so you have been warned! If you’re lucky Lydia’s favorite table may be free!

The Dog House

216 Central Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102

The Dog House is every bit as awesome as I expected. You should go at night so you get to behold the full majesty of that memorable neon sign. I am pretty sure the patrons thought we were nuts for taking so many photos in the parking lot, but one lady did put down her dog and offer to snap a few shots of us together. Love you ABQ!

Me in front of The Dog House.

Jesse’s House

322 16th St SW, Albuquerque, NM 87104

Jesse Pinkman's home is in a quiet neighborhood and people live here, so be sure to respect the owners and don’t tramp all across their yard taking pictures. The house has been remodeled a little, which is disappointing, but you can still get some great pictures from the street. Be respectful here because the neighborhood isn’t a huge fan of the BrBa traffic.

Albuquerque Civic Plaza

1 Civic Plaza Northwest, Albuquerque, NM 87102

Near Jesse’s house is the Albuquerque Civic Plaza where wire taps and tense phone calls were made. This was right by our hotel and we walked through, but didn’t snap any photos.

Jesse and Jane’s Duplex Love Nest

323 Terrace St SE Albuquerque, NM 87106

Jesse and Jane’s duplex isn’t too far from Civic Plaza. When we were there it was vacant. I wish we had taken pictures on the stoop, but the photos we got from the street were pretty great too.

<3

The White House

3828 Piermont Dr NE Albuquerque, NM 87111

No Breaking Bad tour is complete without a trip to The White House. I’ve read that some people have actually thrown pizzas on the roof over the garage just for the sake of an epic photo opp. Don’t be this person! We met the owner when we were taking photos and she was super friendly.

The White House in all it's glory.

The owner offered to snap a picture of us in front of her house. So nice!

Saul Goodman, Attorney at Law - "Better Call Saul"

9516 Snow Heights Circle Northeast, Albuquerque, NM 87112

Saul’s office is right around the corner from the White House. When you need to LAWYRUP as much as Walt did I guess that’s smart. As you know, the office is just in a little strip center so it’s not a super exciting location to visit. When we drove by it I believe the location had been converted to a pub. I would have killed for Saul’s sign and the giant inflatable to be present! Maybe with Saul’s show coming up this location will return to it’s past state. We didn’t take a picture since it wasn’t much to look at.

Mike & Kaylee’s Park

We also went to Mike’s park where he loved to take Kaylee and I suggest visiting it after your lawyer if you’re interested. It’s a cute park and our daughter enjoyed playing there every bit as much as Kaylee. As far as I could tell we were not followed or watched by any law enforcement personnel.

Thomas having a Mike-moment.

A-1 Carwash

9516 Snow Heights Circle Northeast, Albuquerque, NM 87112

If you want to have an A-1 Day head over to Octopus Car Wash. It’s not far from Walt’s/Saul’s and Mike’s Park. We read that they usually have A-1 souvenirs for sale, but when we went they were sold out, probably because of all the spring breakers about.

Hey, have an A-1 Day!

Disappearing Spot

Osuna Rd NE & Juan Tabo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111

Did you fuck up? Do you need to disappear? Head over to the John B. Robert Dam. That’s where both Walt and Jesse went when they thought all was lost and they needed to get the fuck out of dodge. This is a pretty busy road so we parked in a nearby shopping center and walked down to the dam.

Me in Pinkman-mode. If only I had a Hello Kitty phone.

Thomas in full Walt-mode.

Walt's favorite Denny's

2608 Central Avenue SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106

Walt has a pretty sad birthday breakfast here. Bonus points if you break your buddy's bacon up and lay it across their plate in the shape of their age.

Possibly the only reason you'd want to stand around and snap photos of a Denny's!

Schrader Family Home

4901 Cumbre Del Sur Ct NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111

We drove by Marie and Hank’s house and it is in a pretty sweet neighborhood. I completely expected to see lavender curtains in the windows, but clearly the owners did not share Marie’s affinity for the color.

Los Pollos Hermanos

4257 Isleta Blvd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105

Your Breaking Bad Tour must include a meal at Los Pollos Hermanos; “But don’t take my word for it. One taste, and you’ll know.” Los Pollos Hermanos is actually a Twisters chicken chain. There are several in Albuquerque, but only one that Breaking Bad was filmed at so make sure you go to the right location! We had dinner and stewed about being shafted by Gus.

My daughter trying to figure out what's so special about this chicken place.

Hell yeah it was.

Our Breaking Bad Tour Fails

We drove by the nazi compound where much and more occurred, but alas it was behind a tall fence and in the middle of a neighborhood so we couldn’t get close enough for a real good look.

Another fail for us was Tohajalle. We drove out to the reservation and ventured into it to find the O.G. cook-site and the setting for "Ozymandias," but the sunset was against us and we were not able to find the spot before it got dark. Next time we are in ABQ we will plan better and check out that spot earlier in the day. I really want to stand up top and spot the “cow houses.”

We tried!

Breaking Bad Bonuses

Albuquerque seems to really embrace it's Breaking Bad connection. As you explore the city you will come across lots of souvenirs and other photo opportunities you may want to take advantage of.

The Candy Lady sells bags of blue crystal to satisfy your sweet tooth. Although her shop was closed for renovations when we were in Albuquerque we were able to get our hands on some of the blue stuff through other avenues.

Cheapest bag of blue you'll ever buy.

If you are still jonseing for more blue, stop by one of Rebel Donuts' locations and order a Blue Sky donut, their delicious tribute to Walt's special recipe. Not only is this donut a must-have as a fan of Breaking Bad, it is seriously tasty as well!

Just get in my mouth already.

There are so many more locations you could visit!

We had a great time in the Albuquerque area. There’s a lot of hiking and fun to be had for those who aren’t enthralled by checking out locations where BrBa was filmed. There are also tons of other filming locations you can track down. We had a limited amount of time and hit our own personal BrBa Bucket List spots. You can also pay and take a guided tour of these spots, but when we were there in the Spring the tours were in off-season so we went the DIY route and it worked out quite well for us.

In May Teresa and I attended Fan Expo Dallas. We were most excited to get our Walking Dead and Firefly fixes! David Morrissey (The Governor), Emily Kinney (Beth Greene) and Michael Rooker (Merle Dixon) from The Walking Dead were attending. Another selling point was nearly the entire cast of FireFly (Nathan Fillion!) in attendance.

Everything is awesome at Fan Expo Dallas!

Friday we walked the floor and checked out the lay of the land. There was so much to do, see and, of course, BUY! We also attended the Rue Morgue ~ Nightmare on Elm Street after party at Trees, which I was really excited about. Robert Englund was attending and who could pass on a party that Freddy would be haunting? The whole vibe ended up totally not being our scene though and we ended up leaving pretty early. The other party goers seemed to be really enjoying the band, but it was not for us at all.

Dean's baby.

Dean's Impala from Supernatural.

Saturday we got up bright and early, donned out TWD gear and headed out to the convention center for a day of celebrity stalking and fangirl-ing. Let me tell you, if you walk the streets of Dallas carrying a crossbow, knife, bloody axe and severed hand… you’re going to get some looks. I think some of our fellow DART riders were none too pleased by our appearance on the train, though it seemed pretty clear to me that we were just the pair to have on board should the train suddenly be overrun with costumed zombies.

David Morrissey is the sweetest man to ever hold us at knifepoint.

Opting for Premium passes saved the day for us, because we were able to get pretty great seats for the Michael Rooker and David Morrissey panel. They were hilarious and clearly had real chemistry together. Both had lots of lovely stories about filming The Walking Dead and their cast mates. After the panel we lined up to meet David Morrissey and Emily Kinney. We had met Michael Rooker twice previously so we didn’t line up for him this time although he’s always crazy and fun. Emily was every bit as sweet and beautiful as you would expect. David was so charming and smiled in a way I don’t think the Governor could have ever managed. Both were well worth the wait and we were so excited to meet them!

Saturday also gave us a Nathan Fillion panel that we happily stood in a monstrous line for. Again the Premium passes really helped on that front as we were able to queue up ahead of all the general admission fans. Nathan was so wonderful! He was hilarious and adorable and handled the overly excited crowd like a pro. Literally every word out of his mouth had the whole room laughing. Of course, a lot of the questions were about Firefly and the possibility of it’s return. Nathan admonished us all for trying to jinx the success of his current project, Castle, with our fantasies of FireFly Season 2. It was a very entertaining panel and it was a good move for the organizers to give him his own, in addition to the Firefly cast panel on the final day of the con.

We attended the after-party on Saturday and had a blast. We leisurely enjoyed delicious dinner and drinks before heading over to the party, so unfortunately we arrived pretty late. We ended up missing a lot of the festivities, but what we did make it in time for was one of the best convention after parties we’ve had the pleasure to attend. Punk rock karaoke was a big win and the crowd at the party was amazing and super fun. We had a fantastic time and will definitely attend after parties put on by Dallas Comic Con in the future. We missed out on a lot fun they had organized because of our late arrival, but it was clear they knew how to throw a party.

Kimchee and Enchiladas represent.

Sunday we headed over a little later because our main interest that day was seeing the Firefly cast panel and then meeting Nathan Fillion. In retrospect, we should have got up earlier, but we weren’t thinking and didn’t anticipate the size of the crowd for Firefly. The room was packed for the panel and tons of fans were sitting along the side walls for a chance to see the cast once the seats were full. The Firefly cast did not disappoint and they were in awe at how many fans had jammed in to see them. Since Alan Tudyk was not able to attend, Nathan FaceTimed him for the crowd. At one point the curtain behind the stage started collapsing and Nathan Fillion, in true Captain Tightpants fashion, jumped up and ran over to make sure everyone was OK on and off the stage. O Captain! My Captain! What a guy!

Firefly cast!

Fan Expo Dallas is presented by the good people of Dallas Comic Con and they really know how to show the fans a good time. We have been to another of their events and had a great experience at both. We had a fantastic time at Fan Expo Dallas and will definitely attend again. Thank you Dallas!

When you ask me if I would rather haunt a race course as a “Walker” or dash through it as a “Survivor” it’s really a no brainer for me. In April we shambled our way through The Walking Dead Escape in Houston as “Walkers.” The course was set up as an “evacuation center” through Reliant Stadium. We were evacuated in the middle of a slumber party, so we wore our pajamas to the event.

Part of the “Walker” package is that your zombie look is completed by a professional make-up artist so that you come out looking as horribly undead as possible. Everyone gets a quick make-up job, and I mean five minutes tops, but it’s surprising what these people can pull together that quick. You're then off for blood splatter and to have your clothes ripped and disheveled.

We, however, opted to do a little pre-work and distressed our outfits ahead of time. I tea-stained a nightgown and then made it a little extra grimy with some paint smears to make it look greasy and dirty. We ordered zombie contacts for our eyes because we are the kind of fangirls who go the extra mile. Since zombie mouths are never pretty and pink we blackened out mouths and teeth. Our overall looks were very well received. We ended up getting our photo taken for Houston Press online and Channel 2 in Houston.

Everyone received a quick “Walker 101” spiel to instruct us on how to walk and behave and to make sure that we stayed in character always. This is to ensure there are no zombies smoking a cig or Snapchatting their boyfriend. I was hoping for a little more guidance, because being a convincing and terrifying “Walker” is totally a life goal of mine, but that would have been impossible given the size of the horde and the amount of time we had. Ultimately the basics of “Walker-dom” and our natural talents were enough because we were killer “Walkers.”

Our haunt was at the very top of one of the outdoor ramps into Reliant Stadium. At first glance we thought this area sucked because there weren't any severed limbs or apocalyptic decor aside from our bodies. Ultimately, this was probably the best location ever because we had access to cool breezes, air conditioning, a restroom and water fountain. The best part though was that the “Survivors” approaching our turf were exhausted by the time they ran up the ramp to us and we were often able to really catch them off guard and scare the living shit out of them.

One of the things I read a lot of complaints about after the event, and unfortunately we encountered as well, was lack of communication. We were told we would be relieved with fresh meat to takeover our spots after an hour and a half, but unfortunately no one ever came to relieve us or let us know if a replacement would be coming at all. It’s funny because originally we thought an hour and half was a short shift, but after lurching at screaming runners for two and half hours we were dead on our feet!

We are the kind of girls who make our own fun though, so after we had been scaring “Survivors” for well over our allotted time we dismissed ourselves and stayed in character to shuffle the rest of the way through the course. It was great because then we had the opportunity to scare some people in different areas and check out the rest of the course since we had really only seen one small area for most of the race.

We had a killer time and would definitely do it again. Loved everything about it, because after all, WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD.

We took tons of photos with strangers and we came across a few of those on Instagram. Is it creepy that I am posting them now? Nahh.

Another awesome person who took our photo. Zombie selfies were all the rage.

Me

Sherri

Teresa

Dinner at Mai's Houston! Would you believe after all those unfortunate "Survivors" crossed our path we were still hungry!? We were seated next to a table of cops which I am assuming would have put us down should we have decided to start dining on diners.

We had an absolute blast at Wizard World New Orleans. We drove out to see Matt Smith and were thrilled with the whole experience. Wizard World knows how to show the fans a great time! There were so many people there to see Matt so the time was quite limited but we were able to get in the front of the line for everything and had a pretty great experience. I can't complain!

Highlights of the Matt Smith Q&A: His favorite animals are the llama, otter, golden eagle and a dog. One of the TV shows Matt loves to watch is The Walking Dead. If he could have changed one thing about his Doctor's wardrobe it would be that 11 would wear crazy socks like Matt. He does not agree that the John Hurt's "War Doctor" makes him number 12, because he loves being 11. The best moment ever was when a fan asked Matt to do the "giraffe dance" for us and he immediately popped up and went at it full force. He's such a fantastic guy!

More great pictures of Matt Smith in New Orleans.

We saw tons of great costumes and here are just a few of them.

We are huge fans of The Walking Dead so seeing all of the stars that were at the con was a priority for us as well.

I am more than a little obsessed with the A Song of Ice & Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Several members of the Game of Thrones cast were scheduled to be in attendance at the Space City Con in Galveston, Texas so Teresa, Sherri and I got tickets and headed out for a weekend in Westeros and Essos.

The convention was great; all of the guests we were there to see were very accessible. We were able to get a lot of our questions answered and learned a lot to fuel our obsession with Ice & Fire. We mainly attended the GoT panels that were offered. Over all it was a great convention and we will definitely attend in the future.

Kristian Nairn (Hodor!) is so tall!

FInn Jones (Loras Tyrell) told us about all of the "dishy" guys that would be coming up in Season 4. Apparently Loras may have a thing for the Red Viper!

Teresa is so cool. The celerities take photos of her.

Us with Gethin Anthony (King Renly Baratheon).

The main Game of Thrones panel.

Kristian Nairn had a panel of his own. He was so funny and personable.

Jason Momoa had his own panel as well.

If you bring him a beer he may invite you to come sit with him on stage.

Us with Gethin Anthony and Finn Jones. We were so happy to see these two together again!

Teresa and I went to Wizard World Austin in November. On the first day of the Con we just shopped and checked out everything. The second day we cosplayed as Marceline and Marshall Lee from Adventure Time.